Comedy: Humorists to fling zingers to spare

Central Ohio improv and sketch-comedy troupes will compete for laughs with big names in stand-up.

Michael Grossberg, For The Columbus Dispatch

Central Ohio improv and sketch-comedy troupes will compete for laughs with big names in stand-up.

HIGHLIGHTS

• George Lopez (Tuesday), Kevin Nealon (Oct. 24-25) and Pauly Shore (Nov. 18) will be among the many comics visiting the Funny Bone (Easton Town Center).

• Shadowbox Live will uncover the humor amid familiar horror characters in its Halloween-themed Freak Show (Sept. 11 to Nov. 1, Shadowbox).

• Columbus Unscripted and Wild Goose Creative will present the Columbus Improv Festival with area and regional improvisational talents such as Jamie Campbell, Dublin’s Tara DeFrancisco and the Stevens Family (Oct.?8-11, Wild Goose Creative).

• Lewis Black , who last visited Columbus in 2011, will return with his distinctive brand of anger and disillusionment with modern culture and politics (Oct. 9, Palace Theatre).

• The annual Columbus Comedy Festival will return with three days of stand-up, sketches, improv and video by area talents (Oct.?23-25, Wild Goose Creative).

• Comedian-ventriloquist Jeff Dunham will return with the grumpy Walter, the hyperactive Peanut and other puppet characters (Nov. 6, Value City Arena).

• Brian Regan will return to share his observations about life, family and aging in his touring stand-up act (Nov. 7, Palace Theatre).

• Bill Maher , who visited in 2012, will return to share his liberal slant on politics and culture (Nov.?9, Palace Theatre).

• John Oliver , the Emmy-winning comedian and host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, will share his satirical look at the world, politics and current events (Dec. 6, Palace Theatre).

• FFN, MadLab Theatre’s resident improv troupe, will present FFN’s Date Night, a Valentine’s-Day-themed interactive show with new characters about the best and worst tales of true romance (February, dates to be announced, MadLab Theatre and Gallery).